I just heard a third radio program discussing how maybe the media shouldn’t be discussing the possibility that this is a depression, because it might freak people out. Does spending an hour of airtime apologizing for possibly eroding consumer confidence by discussing the erosion of consumer confidence make up for the fact that you’re unnecessarily eroding consumer confidence by discussing it? Wtf, people? To move forward, we need to spend time planning for the future, not just pinpointing exactly how bad things are and adding to the hysteria. /mediarant>

Let’s look ahead. Beyond this recession/depression/cluster fudge is a gleaming future that, at least temporarily, does not involve nuclear war and destruction of this lovely planet. What are you doing, what am I doing, to prepare for it? For one, I’m not opening those stinking quarterly statements! Provided the stock market doesn’t utterly collapse, and I guess I do believe there still will BE a stock market in ten or twenty years, my portfolio will recover. If we keep investing now, hopefully we will be able to take advantage of historically low stock prices and make a bundle to retire on…someday. How low is low enough for you to start investing in the market? Are you already?

What are you doing to recession-proof your career? Do you believe there is anything you can do?

Are you considering moving? Do you think you might have to? What are you willing to sacrifice, or what have you had to sacrifice already, to stay afloat or to position yourself for the future?

Are you like my Twitter buddy @shelisrael, who believes cities like Detroit are in a prime position for a revival? Are you fleeing the burbs or Rust Belt to move closer to coastal or Southern cities? Downsizing? Stuck in your McMansion with a fat mortgage?

As nervous as I am that my beloved Michigan will be totally left behind in the next fifty years as the country’s economy shifts, I’m also quite curious to see how things will look in 2 years, 10 years. And I’d really like to know that someone out there is thinking ahead and facing the future. Let me know how you’re doing and what you’re up to in Comments.